At his stop in Abingdon, he met with other political and business leaders to talk about building technology in the commonwealth. A main topic was teaming up schools and businesses to get millennials into the technology field, because there are ...

Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam continued his tour of Southwest Virginia Saturday. At his stop in Abingdon, he met with other political and business leaders to talk about building technology in the commonwealth.A main topic was teaming up schools and businesses to get millennials into the technology field, because there are thousands of jobs available that are high paying.Lieutenant governor ralph northam is touring around southwest virginia.He's stopping in different towns to focus on regional issues, like economic development, healthcare, and Saturday's topic, technology.He met with the Secretary of Technology to have a conversation about expanding it throughout the state."Our hope is that when we leave here have some concrete suggestions on on how to actually turn some of these opportunities into reality," Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson said.Jackson said a main focus of Governor Terry McAuliffe is cyber security.He's working to come up with solutions to the growing cyber threats the U.S. faces.There are also thousands of jobs in cyber across the state."With so many jobs coming online and cyber security field that aren't geography dependent, people can work where they are rather than move to another city. The opportunities are unparalleled," Jackson said.William Hatcher started a technology business in Abingdon.They service microscopes and work with businesses in the medical field, schools and even NASA."Technology is going to have to propel Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee," Hatcher said.The Lt. Governor wants schools to work with businesses, like Hatcher's, to get students into the technology field."The businesses say 'we have these jobs good high-paying jobs. How can schools help train individuals that would be able to take the jobs?" Lt. Governor Northam said.He said the coal industry is in decline, and the technology field can help get people back to work."There are opportunities here in the southwest to really take care of that and potential and again, bring in good high-paying jobs."The Secretary of Technology told us there are 17,000 cyber jobs that are open in Virginia with a starting pay of $88,000.She said she hopes people will be open to new ideas and economic models.